Monday, May 29, 2006

Then and Now

When we were kids, condensed milk came in small round tins built like little tanks. We would open them with the can opener that Dad had fixed on to the wall and carefully peel back the last bit of the lid so it didn’t cut our fingers. Then we would deliver the opened can to Mom in the kitchen where she would turn out something incredible with it. We would hang around her, mewing like hungry alley cats scenting fish, until she turned over the empty can to us. Then we would very carefully scrape, spoon, lick and wipe clean every little scrap of the condensed milk that was to be had.Now it also comes in these squeeze tube thingies, which unfortunately have none of the drama and appeal of the little circular war tanks. Neither do I care about licking off the last of it because I no longer live near Mom.

2 comments:

D,I did get to taste the incredible thing which your Mom turns the condensed milk into.What can I say It actually is incredible.Only thing that I do regret about the episode is that I got too little of it ,had to compete with the other cats in the house ;-)

Devika,Growing up with a mom who really enjoys her cooking is indeeded the best part of those years. Even more when one is a boy whose job was to 'taste' and then do some 'hard work': like scrape coconuts...Things did not always go well and my left thumb still bears testimony to the wrong handling of the scrapper. She let me drink unlimited glasses of cold milk with roohafza as a 'get well' gift... I stopped when it came out of my nose :-)Till date when ever I see coconuts being scrapped I feel thirsty...